Roads Untraveled
by PunkPinkPower
Summary: Lauren knows, of course, that it won't always be like this. That one day, Jayden will return, and Serena, Kevin, Mike and Terry won't be hers anymore. But she tries not to worry about tomorrow. She's just happy to have today. AU.


_AN: A huge shout out to Rivulet027 for her phenominal beta and encouragement with this fic. 3 _  
_The song Terry sings is called "Winter In My Heart" by The Avett Brothers._

The day Ji sends out the call, Lauren isn't sure what she expects. She's anxious, worried, and uncertain. She knows that her team will come, of course, but she isn't sure what they'll be like, or if they'll like her, or if she'll like them, or if they'll even be capable of being a team.

What she gets is, of course, nothing like she envisioned. She'd known very little about the other Samurai families, despite what she'd tried to learn. They'd been kept separate for their own protection. There's a tall, muscular guy in a bright blue jacket and a blue swim cap. There's a short, lanky boy with a bright pink patch in his dark hair. There's the one who calls himself "Mighty Green" with a big handsome smile. And there's the girl in yellow wearing a cowboy had over her wavy blond hair.

She knows just from looking at them that her life has just gotten ten times more interesting.

* * *

"Well," Ji says conversationally to her that night when everyone else has gone to bed. "They're an interesting lot."

Lauren huffs at him, gives him a small smile. "I don't know if I can do this, Ji."

"Nonsense," Ji waves her off, pours her a small cup of tea, "You were born to do it. You'll get the hang of it."

"I hope you're right," Lauren says back, accepting the tea from him.

"Have I taught you nothing?" Ji says, smirking. "I'm always right."

"Oh, yes," Lauren agrees, sipping her tea. "Of course, Ji."

* * *

"I will hogtie you."

Lauren looks up from the book she'd been sharing with Kevin to see Serena glaring threateningly at Mike across the room. Mike is hiding behind his comic book, looking like he's trying to hold down a laugh.

"What?" Lauren asks, because, well. Hogtying?

Serena turns her head towards them, but doesn't take her eyes off Mike. "He's been throwing bits of paper at me. Like a two year old."

Lauren looks over at Mike, who is squeezing his lips into a very thin line. "It was Terry," he manages, and the pink samurai looks up from where he's been strumming his guitar in the corner of the room.

"Why are you involving me?" Terry wants to know.

"Because he's a two year old," Kevin agrees amiably with Serena, who looks over at them to give them a smile.

Mike chooses that moment to toss another little bit of paper into Serena's hair.

"Mike," Lauren starts, but Serena is already up, and she's taking her belt off.

"You brought this on yourself!" Serena shouts and Mike topples out of his chair and bolts for the door, Serena right behind him.

Lauren looks after them, stunned. Is this how normal people spend their time? Rough housing?

"So," Kevin says, looking back at the book they'd been sharing. "I bet samurai training didn't prepare you for this."

Terry does a lot of singing. She doesn't think that he knows they can hear him outside his room, but she's not sure what would lead him to believe their rooms are soundproof. She doesn't get the feeling that he's trying to be loud, so most nights she lets it go, tucking herself into bed and listening to him sing himself love songs next door.

One night, when she gets up to go to the bathroom, she can still hear his voice and the quiet sounds of a guitar wafting out into the hallway. When she glances down the hallway to his room, she's surprised to see wavy blond hair outside his door.

She pauses, stares at Serena's back for a minute. What is she doing?

But when she focuses, and listens, she can hear Serena's voice humming along to Terry's song.

It takes her a minute to decide; whether or not she should quietly retreat to her room or approach Serena. Eventually, she finds herself going down the hallway, where she places a careful hand on Serena's shoulder.

Serena doesn't even seem surprised to see her. She just smiles in greeting.

"What are you doing?" Lauren whispers.

Serena nods to the door. "I love this song," she whispers back.

Lauren comes around in front of her, presses her ear to the door to hear the words more clearly.

"_It must be winter in my heart_," Terry's voice sings quietly, "_The calendar says august one, but it's still winter in my heart._"

Serena gently adds her own voice to the last "winter in my heart". "He does this whenever he's feeling homesick," Serena whispers again as Terry starts the next verse. "Stays up all night singing. I'll go to bed hearing it, and get up in the morning and he'll still be going."

Lauren raises her eyebrows at the door. "I didn't realize it was because he was sad."

Serena smiles gently at her. "I only know because I'd do it too, if I could."

Lauren tilts her head. "You play guitar?"

"Flute," Serena says, grinning, "But when I left, I gave it to my little sister, so she could play it when she missed me."

"Oh," Lauren nods, and crosses her arms. Serena reaches up and plays with a little gold charm hanging around her neck, hums some more. "I've never heard him when I get up," Lauren says a minute later, when the song changes.

Serena smiles again. "I get up a lot earlier than you do."

Lauren gives her a skeptical look.

"On a farm, six AM is sleeping in," Serena says, and she giggles a little at Lauren's surprised look. "So here, I get up a little before breakfast and go running."

"Oh," Lauren says again, and she nods. "You should have told me," she adds a moment later, "I'd go with you."

Which is how Lauren finds herself getting up an extra hour early every day to run through the town with Serena as the sun comes up.

* * *

"The purpose of the exercise," Ji is saying as Mike and Kevin's whispered argument grows louder, "Is to practice coordination with your teammates. You must be-"

"Mike, move your foot!" Kevin demands, and Mike does so, dragging Kevin's foot back with his. "Your other foot!"

"Why don't you move your foot?" Mike retorts.

"In sync with your partner," Ji finishes, loudly.

Lauren tries not to giggle.

"Oh, this is going to be a piece of cake," Serena whispers to her, and Lauren can't help but agree.

"Can I please film this?" she hears Terry asking Mentor, and he gives him a stern look. Terry backs off a bit, whistles innocently.

"When I give the signal," Ji tells the two pairs on the mats, "You may begin."

It's a long moment before Ji actually raises his hand, but Lauren is ready for it. She and Serena start moving with the same pair of tied legs, their linked arms holding onto each other as they go for the weapons in the middle of the mats.

They get to the swords long before Kevin and Mike, who then not only have to dodge their attacks, but have to clumsily try and pick up their own weapons.

They end up, of course, in a heap on the floor, complaining about each other loudly. When Terry comes over to undo the cloths holding their arms and legs together, Serena gives her a victorious smile.

They'd each been tied together, both hands and feet, and unlike the boys, she and Serena had moved perfectly.

"Hold still," Terry commands, slapping Mike's hand. Mike yelps, annoyed.

"Maybe if someone didn't have two left feet," Mike grumbles as he stands, and Kevin gets up too, glaring.

"Oh now Mike, don't be so hard on yourself," Kevin says back, and everyone laughs at Mike's outraged expression.

"If you two could learn to work together," Lauren says bracingly, "You'd be twice as strong."

"Yeah, right," Mike says playfully at the same time Kevin says, "Never gonna happen."

They glare at each other, and Serena looks over at Lauren and rolls her eyes, as if to say '_boys'_.

* * *

When she and Mike come into the living room after washing the dishes, Lauren is a little curious to see the rest of the rangers gathered around Serena, who is holding some sort of large book.

"What's that?" Mike asks, going over and hoping over the back of the couch to squeeze himself in between Kevin and Serena. Kevin makes an annoyed noise, and Serena smacks the back of Mike's head without looking.

"My sister sent me a package," Serena says, handing Lauren an envelope with a letter over her shoulder. "In case I was getting homesick."

Lauren takes the envelope, pulls out the letter. In big, happy lettering, Serena's sister tells her how things are at home, how she hopes Serena is kicking serious butt, and how much she misses her. Then she goes on to explain the photo album.

Lauren looks over Serena's shoulder. The big yellow book has Serena's symbol painted on the front, and it's filled with photographs.

"I swear, she took a photo of every animal on the farm," Serena laughs, turning the page. "Oh! There's my dad, he was the last yellow samurai, and my mom, and that's my sister, Emily."

Everyone is looking at the book with her, and she describes the photos to them as she goes.

"Your sister is so nice," Mike says, relaxing back into the couch when Serena closes the book. "My siblings couldn't care less. My arrow came and they were like 'Okay, see you later' while they shoved me out the door. Haven't heard a peep from them."

"My sister and I are really close," Serena says, patting Mike's knee. "We're not like most siblings. Yours sound pretty normal, from what I've heard. What did your families do when you had to leave?" Serena wonders, looking to Kevin and Terry.

Kevin shrugs. "It's just me and my dad, so there's not much to tell."

Serena looks over at Terry, who looks uncomfortable. Lauren wonders what's wrong with him at the same time Mike says, "Hey, maybe we should go have dessert?"

"How are you still hungry?" Lauren wonders, following his lead. Mike stands, pulling Kevin and Serena up with him and dragging them into the kitchen.

Lauren lingers, looking at Terry. She needs to do her red ranger thing, she knows. But she's not sure what's bothering him, and she doesn't want to push him without knowing what she's going to hear. She tries, "Are you okay, Terry?" because it seems innocuous enough of a question.

Terry looks up at her, his eyes watery, and he nods quickly. "Yeah, fine. I just… I miss home."

Lauren nods, reaches out and touches his shoulder. She gives it an awkward pat that she hopes comes across as comforting before she turns to follow the others.

She stops when he calls her back. "Lauren? Do you think I'm a good samurai?"

Lauren stops, turns to look at him. "You know I do. You're a wonderful samurai, and a great ranger. Why do you ask?"

Terry sighs. "I'm… I'm not supposed to be here. My sister would be the pink samurai, only… she got sick, and it ended up being me, instead."

Lauren nods, comprehending. She goes back and puts both hands on his shoulders this time. "You're doing a great job, Terry. I mean it. And you are to supposed to be here. Trust me. It was always meant to be you."

She squeezes his shoulders before dropping her hands, and he nods, like that was the right thing to say. Lauren breathes a sigh of relief, because she's pretty much just winging it here, so it's nice when she does it right.

There's a crash in the kitchen, and then they hear Serena yell "Mike!" and they both smile before heading into the kitchen to see what Mike's done now.

* * *

They're at that point, she knows. There comes a time in every team where they have to start pushing the boundaries, have to question her authority just a little. She supposes she should be glad that it's in the form of refusing to go to sleep at decent hours.

It could be worse. Rather than sneaking across the hall to each other's rooms at all hours of the night to thwart her, they could be refusing orders during battle, or slacking off in training. But in every aspect of their samurai lives they've been commendable, exemplary, and she doesn't think Kevin or Serena would let that change.

Their friendships, she knows, are about to be tested though. Because it's about to be the time where she has to decide whether to go along with their schemes, small though they are, or inform Ji and have him lay what Mike calls "The Smack Down" on them.

Both are… problematic to Lauren. She sits up in her room in the dark, considering, and she can hear Mike telling a ghost story next door. If she goes to Ji, it will be a betrayal. A sign that she can't be trusted in the long run… and maybe that's what she should do. Maybe she should prepare them for the eventuality that will come to pass.

If she goes next door though, and tells them to cease and desist, and they don't, she'll be expected to join in. And if she does that, then she draws a line between her and Ji, and she's not willing to do that, either. Ji is the only person who knows what she's been through, who knows what's coming, and she can't defy his wishes as easily as the others. He's been like a father to her for too long for her to be able to go against him, even in the small things.

She isn't sure what she should do. So she just lets it go on, plays the oblivious captain, looks the other way. She occasionally catches Terry sneaking out of his room and into one of the others, but she doesn't say anything to him. She can usually hear them when they have their nighttime get together, but not always. And they don't do it every night, either, so Lauren doesn't see the harm. And by doing nothing, she's not hurting anyone.

Until one night when she wakes from a light doze and her instincts alert her to the fact that she is not alone in the room.

The presence's don't feel threatening, though, so she lifts her head and looks to the end of her bed, where Mike and Serena are looking guilty with a large bag of chips.

"See, I told you food would wake her up," Mike says, popping one in his mouth.

Serena smiles.

Lauren looks around and see's Terry and Kevin on the other side of the bed. She sits, confused. "What are you doing?"

"What you refuse to do yourself," Serena says, and she finds one of Lauren's toes under the blanket and pinches it. Lauren pulls her foot back out of instinct, but Serena lays her hand down on it to keep it there.

"It's been three weeks," Kevin says, looking annoyed. "You've cost me money."

"What?" Lauren wonders, sitting up, her nighty suddenly feeling very revealing.

"They had a bet," Terry says, indicating Mike and Kevin, "About how long you'd let us get away with it. Kevin lost."

"Away with what?" Lauren asks, and she raises her eyebrow, trying to look innocent.

"Oh come on," Serena says, looking exasperated. "We know you know. Us, throwing midnight parties. We haven't exactly been quiet."

Lauren looks between the four of them, and then shrugs. "I still don't know what you're doing here."

Mike makes a noise, and Serena jostles him.

"We," Terry says, climbing closer to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "Are involving you in our lechery."

"Excuse me?" Lauren laughs, caught off guard by his sincerity.

"Why didn't you ever come over?" Serena wonders, tilting her head and reaching for Lauren's hand.

"You…" Lauren looks between them, confused again. "I would have told you to cut it out. I thought that was why you weren't inviting me."

"You were always invited," Serena says at the same time that Mike guffaws and goes, "It wasn't a formal affair."

Lauren feels Terry's arm give her shoulders a squeeze. "Really," he says, "Like we'd ever leave you out on _purpose_."

"I… really?" Lauren wonders, because… well. That just isn't what she expected.

"Lauren," Serena says, looking sad, "I think you've been on your own for too long. Because what you seem to need help getting through that beautiful thick head of yours is that we're your friends. And we like you. We like spending time with you. And I'm sorry we didn't come over here and tell you sooner." Serena laces her fingers with Lauren's and gives them a squeeze.

"I…" Lauren pauses again, studying their joined hands. "Ji always taught me that it was better to stay separate from the team, as a leader. I didn't think-"

"Nope," Kevin agrees, stretching and looking over at her, "You didn't. I mean come on," he continues, gesturing around, "Look at this team. _This team_. How long did you think you could get away with that?"

"Longer than you, apparently," Mike says accusingly, grinning.

Kevin shoots him a look. "I've learned how to pick my battles, is all."

Lauren laughs at him, and Mike gives him a fond look before reaching over and attempting to push him off the bed.

Lauren catches Kevin's hand, but not soon enough to keep him from tumbling to the floor anyway. She helps haul him back up on the bed, though.

"So what do you do all night long?" Lauren wonders, watching Serena snack some more on the chips.

"Tell stories," Serena says happily, smiling, and she offers the bag of chips to Lauren.

"Massage lines," Mike chimes in, nodding.

"And just to warn you, there is apparently a lot of cuddling required," Kevin says, giving her a look that says he disapproves.

"It's called puppy piling, and it's therapeutic," Terry says defensively from her other side.

"Puppy piling?" Lauren wonders, skeptical.

She see's Serena and Mike exchange looks a second too late, because then they're all around her, literally _piled_ on top of her. Kevin tries to escape, probably just out of habit, but Mike pulls him back into the pile, and they all laugh and, well, puppy pile.

"I see," Lauren says a moment later, which makes everyone laugh. "And the therapeutic qualities?"

"It's all about humanizing ourselves," Terry explains, his head somehow above hers. "Especially after long battles with indiscriminately evil monsters. Best way to do it is human touch."

"Are you uncomfortable?" Serena wonders, looking up at her.

Lauren shakes her head. "No. Why?"

Serena makes a funny face. "You don't seem like someone who was hugged enough as a kid."

Lauren isn't sure whether to laugh or frown, but she doesn't have to decide because there's a swift knock at the door and then it opens, and everyone jumps out of the puppy pile like they've been shocked.

Ji is standing in the door, in his dressing gown, with his sleeping cap on his head, looking stern. "What is going on in here?"

"Uhhh," Serena says slowly, looking stunning.

"I had a bad dream," Lauren says quickly, and everyone looks at her with wide eyes. She looks between them before looking back up at Ji apologetically. "They were comforting me."

And it's a low card to play, she knows, because her night terrors are no joking matter between her and Ji. She hasn't had one in years, at least not that he knows about, anyway. But even so, she can see the worry cross his face before he quickly hides it with a stern look for the others, and she feels guilty. Line drawn, she supposes.

"I see," he says, nodding. "Are you comforted enough to go back to sleep?"

Lauren nods, looking away from him, and he gives everyone else demanding glares. They get the message, and start to evacuate her room to go back to their own.

Ji gives her a long look before he nods at her and says, "Sleep well."

"Thanks, Ji," she answers, and he closes the door and leaves.

Lauren lays awake in bed a long time, thinking about her team. They're unconventional, that's for certain. They're also brilliant, she decides as she hugs her pillow. Brilliant and amazing, and she wouldn't trade them for anything.

Even with the puppy piling, she thinks with a grin.

She's starting to drift off to sleep again when she hears her door slide open, and she sits up.

"It's just me this time," Serena's voice whispers in the dark, and Lauren reaches out for her to help her find her way to the bed in the now dark room. Their fingers fumble for a moment before she catches Serena's hand and helps her sit down

"What are you doing?" Lauren wonders. "If Ji catches you we'll both be in trouble."

"I know," Serena says, her voice sounding apologetic. "I just… wanted to make sure you were really okay."

"What do you mean?" Lauren wonders, looking down at the hand Serena hasn't let go of.

"You told Ji you had a nightmare," she says slowly, and Lauren winces. "And he just sort of accepted it. So, do you really have nightmares?"

Lauren looks up at Serena in the darkness, sees her head tilted gently, in that "big sister" way she does with all of them. Lauren tries to memorize that caring look, in case she ever needs it. "I used to. When I was younger."

Serena nods. "And now?"

"Sometimes. Not as bad, but sometimes," Lauren supplies, feeling awkward.

Serena doesn't say anything back for a long moment. But then she's moving forward, and Lauren isn't sure what she's doing until Serena's arms are wrapped around her, Serena's wavy hair in her face. Lauren belatedly tries to hug back, but Serena is already pulling away.

"We all have nightmares sometimes," Serena tells her seriously when she pulls away, "And we're all here for you if you ever really do have one, you know. You're not alone."

"Thank you," Lauren says without thinking, realizing how much she really means it. "No one has ever said that to me before."

"Which is why you should talk to us," Serena smiles happily, "And let us in. We're really not so bad. Well okay, Mike's a bit of a bad apple, but I've got him under control."

Lauren laughs quietly, knowing by now that Serena doesn't mean it, that her insults and quips she shares with Mike are a sign of fondness. "I will," Lauren promises, nodding quickly. "I'll try harder."

Serena rolls her eyes. "It's not a responsibility," she says playfully. "I'm not giving you an order."

Lauren grins sheepishly. "Habit," she supplies.

Serena reaches over to tuck a piece of stray hair behind Lauren's ear, and her hand lingers by Lauren's face, like she wants to touch, but isn't sure she should. Lauren isn't sure she should either, isn't sure what it would mean for Serena to be so gentle with her. So she stays perfectly still, and waits for Serena to make a decision.

She drops her hand after a short moment, and just as Lauren is letting herself breathe and trying to figure out why she feels disappointed, Serena leans towards her.

It's a soft, gentle, chaste kiss. Lauren has seen these kinds of kisses before, between older couples, between shy characters in movies. It's over as quickly as it began, without even giving Lauren time to close her eyes like she knows she should have, and Serena is pulling away and standing up.

"G'night," Serena calls gently as she heads for the door, tossing a warm smile over her shoulder. "Sleep well."

Lauren watches her go, and just as Serena is about to pull the door closed she belatedly calls "You too."

She stays up in bed that night, touches her lips, thinks about what it means that her first kiss has been with her closest friend and most trusted teammate. She wonders if the others will know in the morning, or if it's a secret. She wonders what Ji will think when-_if_-she tells him. She wonders if things will change between her and Serena.

She wonders if Jayden has ever been kissed.

She meets Serena in the hallway in the morning to go running. And later, when Serena takes Lauren's hands in her own and blows warm puffs of air on them to warm them up, she doesn't hesitate to bring Serena's hands to her own lips and place a gentle kiss on her knuckles.

* * *

They go to the amusement park on their rare day off, Serena dragging Lauren along against her better judgment, and if she makes a fuss about not training, it's only so that the others will harp at her trying to change her mind.

Kevin seems to be onto her, but he keeps his mouth shut, save for when he's eating cotton candy, or sneakily putting it in Mike's hair while Terry distracts him.

"Best day ever," Serena announces when they come off the rollercoaster, hugging Lauren from behind. Lauren reaches up to give her arm a squeeze before she pulls away.

"Really?" Lauren wonders, looking to Serena, "This is the best day you've ever had?"

Serena looks annoyed at Lauren calling her on it. "Well, it's up there," she compromises, waving a hand around above her head. "Even you have to admit it's been a good day."

Lauren nods, agreeing. "It has. A very good day."

"It's not over," Mike adds from behind them, and he points to the sun in the sky, which had not yet set. "We can fit in a few more rides before the fireworks!"

"You go," Kevin says, holding his stomach. "I think I've had too much cotton candy."

"Light weight," Terry accuses, and Kevin reaches over and ruffles the younger boys hair good-naturedly.

"You guys go," Lauren says, waving them off. "Kevin and I will enjoy your screams from afar."

Serena laughs, and then she jumps onto Mike's back and he catches her, and she directs her noble steed towards the tilt-a-whirl.

Kevin gives her a commiserating look, and they find a table to save for the fireworks later.

"I don't know how they do it," he admits to her, stretching. "Going, going, going, like energizer bunnies."

"They say the same thing about you and training," Lauren confides, and Kevin smiles.

"Good. I'm giving them something to live up to," he teases.

Lauren laughs at him, lets him sit while she goes and gets them bottles of water to drink. It's mostly amiable silence between them, which she doesn't mind. Out of all the rangers, if she had to pick one of them to keep her company while she had things to think about, it would be Kevin. He's the only one with an attention span long enough. Occasionally one of them says something about the crowds, or the rides, but mostly they sit and people watch, waiting for their friends.

It does give Lauren time to think, and she watches the children running around, and sees her brother's face in every little boy. She wonders if he's ever been to an amusement park, ever ridden a roller coaster. She thinks about what he must look like, how he won't be the same little boy he was when they took him from the Shiba house all those years ago. It's hard to picture.

Of course her mind wanders to the sealing symbol, and Jayden's quest, and her own deceptions and duties. But she hopes, she really hopes, that he's managed to find some friends like hers, some friends who can help him in the times to come. A part of her hopes that because she wants him to be happy. The selfish part hopes it because she doesn't want to lose her friends when he comes back.

Lauren knows, of course, that it won't always be like this. That one day, Jayden will return, and Serena, Kevin, Mike and Terry won't be hers anymore. She knows that no matter what she does, that it has to happen, and even though she wants to see Jayden again… a part of her hopes that day never comes.

But she tries not to worry about tomorrow. She's just happy to have today. She has to cherish what little time she's got. Serena would tell her it's a rule.

They eventually do come back from their rides, and they inform Lauren and Kevin how much fun they've missed. They wait for the fireworks with Mike being his rowdy self, and Serena trying to make him behave and failing.

And when the fireworks come, they all climb on top of the table to sit and watch. Serena sits behind her, wrapping her arms around Lauren's front affectionately and resting her chin on her shoulder. Terry sits in front of Mike on the bench, and Mike and Kevin seem to have a competition about who can scream louder for the fireworks of their color.

Lauren just laughs and jostles them, clapping with everyone when the fireworks are over and then letting her team lead her home.

She hopes that they'll always be there to lead her home.


End file.
